Sometimes you get the feeling that the world is slowly changing for the better. With small steps, it is slowly moving in the right direction. And when you stop for a moment and look back, you see how far it has already come. You can see that particularly well right now at Anahita Contemporary in Charlottenburg’s KantGaragen. For the launch of the new Asics initiative “A New Personal Best”, a campaign that inspires to celebrate the emotions of sports and exercise and not just results and numbers, Asics has realized an impressive portrait series with renowned photographer Maria Sturm – the campaign title says it all. Instead of high-performance bodies and exceptional athletes, the focus here is on people who exercise not only for the physical benefits but also for their mental health. Just like the brand itself, which is named after an acronym. Asics founder Kihachiro Onitsuka recognized from the beginning that physical exercise has the power to lift one’s spirits, instill positivity and move people and entire communities forward. That’s why Asics means “Anima Sana In Corpore Sano” – meaning “A healthy mind in a healthy body.” For more than 70 years, Asics has focused on physical and mental health as well as the joy of movement, counterbalancing the prevailing “no pain, no gain” mentality and pressure to perform. Now, just in time for World Mental Health Day (10.10.2023), the new campaign launched to redefine the concept of “Personal Best.” People of all ages with real bodies and authentic joy gather in Sturm’s photographs and inspire hope. For the normalization of body and movement, for the merging of physique and psyche, and for the slow but necessary change in the right direction.
Text: Alina Herbel / Photos: Maria Sturm / Credit: Asics
“A New Personal Best” exhibition by Asics at Anahita Contemporary (3rd floor), Kantstr.126, 10625 Berlin–Charlottenburg; map
Tue–Fri 14–19h, Sat 11–16h. The exhibit runs from 06.10.–15.10.2023.
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